Various methods and systems are known in the art for tracking the coordinates of objects involved in medical procedures. Some of these systems use magnetic field measurements. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,391,199 and 5,443,489, whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference, describe systems in which the coordinates of an intrabody probe are determined using one or more field transducers. Such systems are used for generating location information regarding a medical probe or catheter. A sensor, such as a coil, is placed in the probe and generates signals in response to externally-applied magnetic fields. The magnetic fields are generated by magnetic field transducers, such as radiator coils, fixed to an external reference frame in known, mutually-spaced locations.
Additional methods and systems that relate to magnetic position tracking are also described, for example, in PCT Patent Publication WO 96/05768, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,963, 6,239,724, 6,618,612 and 6,332,089, and U.S. Patent Application Publications 2002/0065455 A1, 2003/0120150 A1 and 2004/0068178 A1, whose disclosures are all incorporated herein by reference. These publications describe methods and systems that track the position of intrabody objects such as cardiac catheters, orthopedic implants and medical tools used in different medical procedures.
It is well known in the art that the presence of metallic, paramagnetic or ferromagnetic objects within the magnetic field of a magnetic position tracking system often distorts the system's measurements. The distortion is sometimes caused by eddy currents that are induced in such objects by the system's magnetic field, as well as by other effects.
Various methods and systems have been described in the art for detecting field distortion and for performing position tracking in the presence of such distortion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,147,480, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method in which the signals induced in the tracked object are first detected in the absence of any articles that could cause parasitic signal components. Baseline phases of the signals are determined. When an article that generates parasitic magnetic fields is introduced into the vicinity of the tracked object, the phase shift of the induced signals due to the parasitic components is detected. The measured phase shifts are used to indicate that the position of the object may be inaccurate. The phase shifts are also used for analyzing the signals so as to remove at least a portion of the parasitic signal components.
As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,669, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system for determining the position and orientation of remote sensors using pulsed magnetic fields. Pulsed magnetic fields are sequentially generated from a plurality of spatially independent components defining a source coordinate frame. The fields are sensed by a remote sensor having a plurality of passive field sensing elements. Eddy current distortions are sensed separately and subtracted by the system. The system measures the effect of metallic objects present in the environment and dynamically adjusts the measured values accordingly. The sensed magnetic fields, free of eddy current distortion, are used in order to calculate the position and orientation of the remote object.